


The Waiting Game

by scrubclub



Series: Arya Stark's Adventures in Subpar Dating [2]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-07 19:11:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18879451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrubclub/pseuds/scrubclub
Summary: Gendry has an unshakable crush on Arya, Arya has a list of unappealing suitors to deal with, and everyone Gendry speaks to seems to want to offer him some advice on the situation.Companion piece to The Dating Game. Alternate title: 10 People Who Told Gendry To Ask Arya Out (And The 1 Person Who Told Him Not To Bother)





	The Waiting Game

**Author's Note:**

> Hi lovelies! I finally finished my exams (yay!) and felt the need to write more of these two! Is anyone else riding a roller coaster of emotions going into the finale tonight? Honestly, they're endgame to me no matter what D&D do. 
> 
> This is basically The Dating Game from Gendry's POV. Now that it's summer I'm hoping to be writing more, but I thought I'd get back into it with something fun like this. I think it will make sense even if you haven't read the first story - I hope you guys like it! xx

**i. Lommy and Hot Pie**

“You’ve just described Sansa Stark,” Hot Pie said, shaking his head, “I asked you to describe your dream girl, not a stranger that you drool over.” 

“I’m just being honest, man. She’s the dream girl,” Lommy said, shrugging as he took a sip of his beer. Gendry rolled his eyes at his friends. 

“How about instead of dreaming about girls, you two actually go and talk to some,” he suggested. There were loads of girls at this party, most of them well out of any of these boys’ leagues. Rather than attempting to make contact, Gendry, Lommy, and Hot Pie stood together in the corner of the living room, looking as though they weren’t quite sure why they were there. They were, of course, not quite sure why they were there. Gendry’s sort-of-sister Bella had insisted that they come along and had then immediately disappeared to find her girlfriend, leaving them to fend for themselves. Lommy scoffed at Gendry’s suggestion.

“You’re one to talk,” he said, looking up at Gendry, “you’re the only one of us with half a chance of getting some and you’re standing here sulking with us.” 

“Yeah, Gendry,” Hot Pie said, “Lead by example. Go on.” Gendry ignored them. He had never been good at talking to pretty girls. 

“Thought so,” Lommy said smugly.

“So,” Hot Pie said a moment later, nudging Gendry, “How about you?” 

“How about I what?”

“Describe your dream girl,” Hot Pie said. Gendry rolled his eyes and exhaled roughly, but was spared by a loud yell from the other side of the room that drew all of their eyes.

“Relax, bitch!” Ramsay Bolton stood by the fireplace beside a short girl with shoulder-length brown hair who, based on Bolton’s stance, had just shoved him away. Before Ramsay - or anyone - could say another word, she pulled her arm back and punched him square on the mouth. Ramsay let out a cry and clutched his jaw as the girl turned on her heel and stalked away. A few people moved to help Ramsay, who seemed to be in a great deal of pain, while Gendry stared after the girl. 

“Her,” Gendry said jokingly, “that’s my dream girl.” His companions nodded enthusiastically. 

“Anyone who punches that prick in the face seems alright to me,” Lommy said. Gendry was still staring at the doorway. 

“Go after her!” Hot Pie said excitedly, slapping his friend’s arm. It wasn’t often that Gendry showed romantic interest in anyone, joking or not. Gendry stared at Hot Pie incredulously. 

“And say what? ‘Hello, I just saw you punch that creep in the face. Do you want to be hit on by a different stranger now?’ I’m not looking to start the school year off with a black eye.” Lommy and Hot Pie both laughed. Gendry chuckled too, though a small part of him did wish he had the guts to go find her and introduce himself. 

 

**ii. Professor Yoren**

Gendry’s head hit the desk hard, immediately rousing him from his sleep and causing him to let out an involuntary grunt of pain. He blinked, his eyes adjusting to the light of the lecture hall. Had he fallen asleep in class? He winced and looked up to see Hot Pie beside him. Hot Pie was guiltily holding the book that Gendry had been using as a pillow until it had been violently jerked out from under his head. Beside Hot Pie, Lommy was leaning back in his chair and laughing. Beside Lommy sat her. 

Gendry blinked a few more times. He had seen her around campus a couple of times since the party but only in passing, from across a courtyard and through the bustle of a busy cafe. Today, she was only a few feet from him, looking at him with an eyebrow lifted apprehensively. Her eyes were a sharp grey, and they narrowed slightly in confusion as he stared at her wordlessly. “Uh,” he said eventually. _Nice one. Very clever._ He had no idea what he had missed during his brief nap, but it seemed as if they all were waiting for something from him. He swallowed, but before he could say anything, Professor Yoren spoke. 

“Now that you’ve introduced yourselves to your groups,” Professor Yoren said loudly, bringing the conversations to a stop, “Please exchange email addresses or phone numbers or whatever it is you use these days and set up a time for your first meeting. You’ll be spending a lot of time together over the next few months, so you might as well get to know each other. Buy them a beer, take them for coffee, treat them to a romantic candlelit dinner, I don’t care - you’re stuck with ‘em and I won’t be taking any complaints.”

“Oh,” Gendry said, looking at Lommy and Hot Pie and the girl. He wished he sounded and felt even a little bit awake. He knew he would regret covering last night’s closing shift and he vowed to never do so again. “So we’re a group?” he asked. Lommy laughed and the girl let out a noise that was somewhere between a sigh and a groan. Gendry wasn’t sure what Professor Yoren expected of them, or even what this project was about, but that wasn’t the first thing on his mind. He was distracted by the fact that the girl who had punched Ramsay Bolton in the face also happened to be intimidatingly pretty up close.

 

**iii. someone called Ygritte**

He was surprised at how easy it was to be friends with Arya. Sure, she was prettier than Gendry’s other, Lommy-and-Hot-Pie-esque friends by quite a large margin. And yes, he would occasionally be distracted by the way she bit on her lip when she thought too hard or how she would pull her hair out of its messy bun and run her hands through the tangles. And he definitely felt his stomach do a little flip anytime he made her laugh. But aside from those small details, he found it easy to be around Arya. She was snarky and bossy and funny and fit into their group perfectly. 

He figured that his minor crush was no big deal. Being friends was definitely good enough for him. Despite telling himself this, the optimistic part of his brain could not help but feel an ounce of hope when Arya playfully teased him or anytime the two of them exchanged a look of unspoken exasperation after Lommy spoke.

A couple of weeks into term, they were gathered around a table at the library, each researching a different region of pre-rebellion Westeros. Gendry was attempting to make sense of the various minor Northern houses - the Flints up in the mountains, the Dustins of Barrowton, some other Flints of Widow’s Watch, and so on. The only Northern houses he was remotely familiar with were the ones that still held their ancestral seats and titles - Manderly, Mormont, and -

“Stark!”

The whole table looked up as a red-haired girl dropped a paperback book on top of Arya’s notebook. 

“Give that to your sister, will you? I’ve been meaning to get it back to her for ages - it’s sat in my bag for weeks! Glad I spotted you. Tell Sansa it was a bit too lovey-dovey for my taste, but I’ve read worse,” she spoke quickly in a thick Northern accent and ruffled Arya’s hair before sizing up the boys. “You three make sure she takes break, hey? Take her for dinner or something. Kid works too hard.”

“Alright, Ygritte,” Arya said, rolling her eyes, “that’s enough.” 

Ygritte grinned and walked away, yelling a reminder to Arya about a girl’s night that she couldn’t be late for. The library felt very quiet after Ygritte’s brief but loud interruption. The table sat in silence for a moment before Hot Pie spoke.

“Did she say Stark?” 

Gendry was struck by the concern in Arya’s face as she looked at them. She winced as she nodded. Gendry felt his heart sink. 

“Like, Stark as in _the_ Starks?” Hot Pie pressed. Arya nodded again, her cheeks reddening. 

“So you’re super rich then,” Lommy said in awe, “Aren’t you lot technically royals?” 

“No!” snapped Arya. 

“You are related to them, though,” Gendry said. Arya snapped her head to face him and he hesitantly held up the page that his textbook was open to. On it, in detail, was the lineage of the royal family and a few generations back, the Stark’s direwolf sigil was visible, tied into the complicated family tree. Arya’s jaw clenched. 

“So what are you, then?” Lommy asked, “A duchess or something?” 

“No,” Arya said sharply. Gendry looked at the legend in his textbook. 

“I think technically we should be calling you _Lady_ ,” he said, unable to stop himself from grinning slightly at the look of horror on her face. 

“Do _not_ call me that,” she said through gritted teeth. 

“As m’lady commands,” Gendry said, immediately regretting it as her boot made swift and heavy contact with his shin. He yelped in pain and Arya smiled. 

“You earned that,” she said. Lommy and Hot Pie nodded in agreement. 

“Don’t worry, Arry,” Hot Pie said, “We won’t be treating you any different.”

“Though I won’t say no if you want to introduce me to your sister,” Lommy added, a trace of genuine hope on his face. 

Arya smiled as she rolled her eyes and returned to her notebook. Gendry thought he saw a trace of relief in her face as she started taking notes. It was true, Lommy and Hot Pie wouldn’t treat her any differently. Gendry wanted to say the same for himself, but he couldn’t help but feel somewhat deflated. Arya was a _Stark_. Old noble families like the Starks didn’t hold the same power that they once had, but they still had more money than Gendry could even conceptualize. Being friends with Arya would have to be enough for him, because girls who came from families like the Starks did not date boys who came from nothing at all.

 

**iv. A rather drunk group of freshmen**

Gendry felt that he had made a valiant effort in his attempts to stifle his growing crush on Arya Stark. Fate, however, did not seem to support these efforts. He had been innocently driving home from his shift at Mott’s when he had seen her, alone and sweaterless in the worst area of town. She looked like something out of a movie, backlit by the neon OPEN sign of a dodgy-looking store on the corner that he pulled up to, offering her a ride home. No, fate seemed dead set on keeping Arya Stark right at the front of Gendry’s consciousness. 

Not twenty minutes later, he found himself across a booth from her at McDonalds, watching her inhale a burger as he worked on some nuggets. The only other patrons were a group of drunk teenage girls. The employee behind the counter looked about ready to fall asleep on his cash register. If Gendry had ever envisioned buying Arya Stark dinner, it would not have looked like this. They would be dining off of plates instead of trays, for one thing, and the meal would have cost him more than a total of ten crowns. He would be wearing something other than his dirty work clothes and he definitely would have washed his hair. And in this vision, Arya would not have already been on a date with a different guy earlier in the night - though her detailed recounting of the disastrous date at the worst restaurant in town had left Gendry almost choking on his sip of cola. He had been the restaurant owner’s son, yet Arya had somehow ended up footing the bill. 

And after almost an hour of sharing his fries with her and talking - about everything, from her family to his lack thereof, from his rough sketches of house plans to her absurd group of friends, from her preference for plum sauce to his assertion that ketchup was superior - he didn’t mind the evening’s imperfections so much. She was hilarious and honest, and didn’t seem to care that he had spent most of his childhood hopping between foster homes. He liked the way her face softened when she spoke about her brothers and the way she practically threw herself across the table to look at the sketches he had on his phone. 

He learned a lot about Arya Stark that night, but easily the strangest thing he learned was the reason she had been on her disastrous date in the first place. She had - by force, seemingly - agreed to be set up on five blind dates by her sister and her friends. Arya’s face had flushed as she explained it to him, and she seemed apprehensive about the upcoming dates, especially since the first one had gone so poorly.

Any part of him that had considered asking Arya if she wanted to get a proper dinner with him next weekend had been quelled by this revelation. She had enough dates on her horizon and the last thing she needed was one more guy to deal with. No, friends was good enough for now, his feelings for her be damned. 

When Arya slipped away to the bathroom, Gendry tossed their empty boxes and the appalling number of sauce packets they had gone through into the rubbish bin. He sat back down to wait for Arya as the group of freshmen walked towards the exit. One, a blonde girl who looked vaguely like a celebrity that Gendry couldn’t place, stopped as she saw him and grinned. “You guys,” she said, hiccuping slightly between words, “are, like, totally couple goals.” Gendry blinked at her.

“Oh no, we’re not -,” 

“I would seriously kill for a boy who bought me french fries and looked at me like you look at her.” Her friends giggled in assent. 

“We’re not a couple actually,” Gendry said awkwardly, and he could feel his cheeks reddening, “We’re just friends.” The girls stared at him.

“Oh my gosh,” one girl said, devastated, “love isn’t real.” The first girl leaned forward onto the table.

“I think that you two should be more than friends,” she said matter-of-factly, though the words were somewhat slurred. Her friends nodded in agreement. “You should tell her how you feel. Just go for it. Girls love guys who are confident and just -,”

Gendry wasn’t sure when he had asked for dating advice from a group of tipsy teenage girls, but he was rescued from the pep talk by one girl who yanked the blonde by the elbow towards the door. 

“Come on, Myrcella, leave him alone. We’ve got to go find Ari.” Myrcella looked back as she left and gave Gendry an encouraging smile and a thumbs up. He turned to the cashier and saw that he was now completely asleep on the counter. No, this was _definitely_ not how he imagined a dinner with Arya Stark would go. 

 

**v. Lommy and Hot Pie, again**

“Mate, just tell her you like her.” 

Gendry was watching Arya walk away and snapped his head back to look at Hot Pie. “I’ve already told you, the timing’s just -,” Lommy groaned.

“The _timing_? Gendry, you’ve practically got hearts in your eyes, just ask the girl out!” Lommy gestured wildly, as if this would help convince Gendry. “When she comes back with our coffees, ask her if she’s been to that cafe Hot Pie won’t shut up about.”

“Sharna’s!” Hot Pie exclaimed.

“Sharna’s! Ask her if she’s been to Sharna’s, and if she hasn’t, invite her to go check it out with you!” Lommy and Hot Pie grinned at Gendry expectantly. He sighed heavily. 

“Can you both just leave it?” He said with exasperation. Arya had enough on her plate. Surely the last thing she needed was another suitor.

They did leave it, though Lommy muttered something about cowardice that Gendry chose to ignore, doing his best to focus on editing Hot Pie’s sloppy notes on the significance of the Riverlands during Robert’s Rebellion.

“Hey guys!” said a familiar, peppy boy’s voice. Arya was back with their coffee and she had brought along the handsome blond guy from their class who seemed incapable of going one lecture without contributing his brilliant thoughts to the discussion. Gendry was pretty sure his name was Ned, but had had no idea that Arya and Ned were friends. Lommy and Hot Pie responded to Ned’s greeting but Gendry found himself only able to offer a curt nod. 

“I’ll catch you later, Arya” Ned gave Arya a grin and a wave he walked away.

“You’re friends with that guy?” Lommy asked as Arya handed out their coffees and sat down across from Gendry, “Can you tell him to stop asking so many questions in class? He talks more than Yoren, I swear.” For once, Gendry agreed wholeheartedly with Lommy. 

Arya laughed and shrugged. “He just introduced himself to me - he seems alright, though. Maybe a little too chatty, but he was nice to me.” Gendry snorted. _No kidding._ “What?” 

Arya was staring at him, confused. “Of course he was nice to you,” Gendry said, furious at himself for reacting now. He did his best to offer Arya a genuine smile, as if the introduction of her handsome new friend had not completely ruined his day.

“What’s that supposed to mean? He was nice to you guys, too!” Arya demanded. Gendry couldn’t believe she was this oblivious. 

“I’ve seen him outside of class loads,” said Hot Pie, “and he’s never said hi to me.” 

Arya looked around at the three of them, lost. 

“You’re a pretty girl,” Lommy said, “He thinks you’re hot so he introduced himself. Didn’t want to seem like a dick, so he spoke to us too.” Gendry once again found that he was agreeing with Lommy.

Arya opened her mouth but Hot Pie cut her off. “C’mon, Arry, I’m sure he’s alright, but there’s a reason he’s randomly introducing himself to you.” 

“That’s not- I’m not- you said I looked like a mess today.” Arya was blushing now. She did look like a mess, covered in scratches and bruises from her date the day before - which Gendry knew involved a hike and some rock climbing, though he had not yet heard the full rundown. But Arya looking like a mess didn’t stop her from being an undeniably attractive person. 

“You do look like a mess, but you’re still objectively pretty,” Lommy said simply, and Gendry was indescribably relieved he wasn’t the one who had to explain this to Arya. Lommy then turned to the other boys for support and Gendry trained his eyes on his textbook, hoping that his cheeks were not as red as they felt. 

“You’re all full of it, you know that?” Arya spat, looking more uncomfortable than Gendry had ever seen her. 

“Leave it, Lom,” Gendry said before Lommy could carry on.

“Yeah, you don’t want to end up like Ramsay Bolton.” Hot Pie said and Gendry groaned internally. Arya had frozen, her eyes wide with concern. 

“You guys know about that?” she asked quietly, a note of anxiety in her voice that Gendry had never heard.

“Know about it?” Lommy said in disbelief, “we were there! We were standing on the other side of the room, minding our own business, when we hear Bolton call someone a bitch and turn just in time to see you slug him.” He grinned.

“It was awesome, by far the highlight of any party I’ve ever been to. Not that I’ve been to all that many...” Hot Pie said, “Gendry said you were - ” _Seven hells, Hot Pie._

“Absolutely justified,” Gendry cut in, before Hot Pie could use the words ‘dream girl’. “That guy’s the worst. And it was a pretty good left hook.” He smiled at Arya and was relieved to see her face relax. They settled back into their work then, though Gendry had trouble concentrating on Hot Pie’s notes about the Riverlands with Arya’s knee accidentally bumping into his every few minutes. 

 

**vi. Anguy**

Gendry could only spend so much time with Anguy before wanting to hit him. His freckled friend was obnoxious and arrogant and spent far too much time talking about the number of girls he had slept with - but the guy did put together a great friendly rugby game. Gendry had never been able to afford to play organized sports growing up, but he was naturally athletic and enjoyed throwing a ball around far more than he liked lifting weights. It was hard to say no to Anguy when he announced that they had secured a field time. 

The games tended to go a little haywire, what with half of the players downing beers on the sidelines and with no umpire to keep anyone in check. There were more often than not a few fists thrown. But Gendry had too much fun to be bothered by the stupidity of it all, so he always agreed when Anguy invited him. 

By the end of the match, Gendry’s knees were smeared with grass and dirt and blood and he had a small cut on his forehead where a fingernail had caught him. Overall, the damage was minor, at least compared to some - there had been a hit that resulted in a broken nose not two minutes into the game. Gendry’s team had won, though no one seemed confident about the final score. Two guys looked about ready to start another brawl over a can of beer, so Gendry threw his sweater over his shoulder and began to walk away. Anguy caught up and loped along beside him.

“Great game, bro,” Anguy said, “we crushed ‘em.” Gendry nodded, pretending to listen as Anguy emphatically went over the more violent parts of the match. Gendry looking down at his knees, wincing just thinking about how painful it was going to be to shower them off. “Aw man,” Anguy’s voice had softened, “this is why I love this place.” Gendry looked up. Anguy was looking straight ahead, smiling lustily at a girl running towards them. She had her hair tied up in a high ponytail and was wearing running shorts and a sports bra. Gendry had been hit by a dozen large men this evening, but none of them had floored him the way Arya Stark did. 

“Hey,” Anguy nodded at her as she approached. She gave him a confused look before she noticed Gendry and came to a stop, pulling her headphones out.

“Hey,” she said, looking him up and down and smiling, “what happened to you?” 

“Huh?” Gendry said, caught off-guard. For a wild moment he was concerned that he had missed a group meeting. Arya cocked an eyebrow. 

“...You’re bleeding from the head,” she said, a smile playing on her lips the way it always did when he said something stupid. 

“We were playing a bit of rugby,” Anguy interjected, “just some guys throwing their weight around, y’know.” He reached out his muddy hand. “I’m Anguy, by the way” 

“Arya,” she said, shaking his hand without flinching and turning immediately back to Gendry. 

“You any good?” she asked, and Gendry shrugged.

“He’s _very_ good,” Anguy said, suddenly grinning, “Real tough guy, strongest player on the field. I mean, look at those thighs of his.” Arya glanced down and nodded at Gendry’s legs. Gendry considered killing Anguy right there and then. 

“I’ll hear all about it on Thursday, then,” Arya said with a smile, putting her headphones back in, “Nice to meet you, Anguy.” She ran off and Anguy watched her, whistling quietly until Gendry smacked him on the shoulder. 

“Sorry, mate,” Anguy said unapologetically, “She’s fit, though. I mean, if you weren’t already in there, I would definitely -,”

“I’m not _already in there_ ,” Gendry said, his face heating up, “Do you always have to talk about girls like that?”

“You might as well be,” Anguy said, “She definitely would be up for it.”

“How would you know what she’d be ‘up for’?” Gendry asked, knowing that anything more Anguy said would just make him angrier. “You don’t even know her.” 

Anguy raised his eyebrows. “Touched a nerve, have I? I only meant that she checked you out twice. I was doing you a favour, bringing up those thighs.” He slapped Gendry’s leg and grinned. “She said you’re seeing each other Thursday? Seal the deal.”

“We’re meeting at the library -”

“So hot,” Anguy said, and Gendry felt his eye twitch. 

“For a group project.” 

“Regardless, mate,” Anguy said as they finally, mercifully, reached the corner where they would part ways, “She’s a 9 and you’re an 8 when you clean yourself up - you should scoop that up before someone else does. Before I do.” 

“Fuck off, Anguy.”

 

**vii. Bella**

It seemed cruel that Arya’s latest blind date was taking place at the Crossroads on a night that Gendry was working. He had watched as she was introduced to a well-dressed blond and felt his heart fall slightly as he noticed her blush and smile at her date. Arya had caught Gendry watching and waved before rolling her eyes at the meaningful look he had given her and her date. Gendry followed up with what he hoped as a convincing thumbs up. He felt like a terrible friend, hoping that her date was as much as a prick as his polo shirt and haughty expression suggested. 

Not half an hour into Arya’s date, Gendry’s assumptions were proven staggeringly correct. He stepped out of the back room in time to see Arya’s date sliding a napkin towards Bella before winking and walking away. Bella, Gendry’s former foster sister, was a beautiful girl who had been in a committed relationship with Gendry’s friend Jeyne Heddle for well over a year. Men were constantly trying to pick her up and Gendry generally found it quite amusing, but tonight he wasn’t sure he would see any humour in it. 

“Is that a phone number?” Gendry demanded, and Bella turned to hand him the napkin.

“He asked what time I was off,” she said, rolling her eyes, “But didn’t give me time to reply. Too busy telling me how enchanting and exotic looking I am.” She caught the expression on Gendry’s face and paused. “You alright, kid? You look about ready to hit something - do you know this guy?”

“I know his date,” Gendry said, letting out a hollow laugh as he stared at the phone number written beside the name ‘Harry’. He turned to look at Arya, who was laughing with one of her girl friends and his jaw tightened. He couldn’t imagine going on a date with _Arya Stark_ and being able to even think about other girls, let alone give one his number. 

“You sure they’re together?” Bella said, sidling up to him and following his line of vision to Arya, “Oh she’s cute.” Gendry rolled his eyes and turned away from Arya’s table. 

“That’s not important.” He said simply, “But yes, they’re definitely here together and - ,”

“Stop, wait. Gendry, are you blushing?” Bella stared at him, “Do you _like_ her?” 

“We’re friends.” 

“Bullshit! You’re about ready to fight this guy!” Bella snatched back the napkin and poked Gendry in the chest, “You have to tell her! Tell her that her boyfriend - ,”

“He is _not_ her boyfriend,” Gendry said, with perhaps a little bit too much bite in his voice.

“Okay, defensive much? Tell her that this Harry guy is a dick and that she’d be far better off dating you.” Bella grinned. Gendry rolled his eyes and glanced back at Arya’s table. She was was looking over at the bar and smiled before noticing his troubled expression. He sighed and waved her over. 

-

She took it well, as Gendry should have expected her to. Upon hearing that Harry had tried to pick up the bartender, Arya had thrown her head back laughing without even pausing to look upset. She and Bella immediately went to work on a plan to embarrass him. Gendry leant against the counter, hating himself for being relieved that Harry hadn’t swept Arya off of her feet. 

Arya returned to the bar after sending Harry on his way and dropped an obnoxious tip into the tip jar after ordering her table another pitcher. 

“There’s no need for that,” Gendry said, shaking his head.

“Please,” Arya replied, “Bella was amazing. Plus, it was nice of you to look out for me.” Gendry’s stomach seemed to do a flip as Arya smiled at him

“Friends don’t let friends date assholes,” he said, handing her the beer. 

“You’d think, right?” She smiled at him again. “Thanks for not being an asshole.” He stared after her, feeling a little bit like he was floating until he caught Bella’s expression and hastily became focused on wiping down some glasses that he was fairly sure were already clean.

 

**viii. Jeyne Heddle**

“Gendry! Look who we found!” Gendry had been staring at the floor, thinking about how close he and Arya had sat to each other while sharing a textbook the day before. Lommy’s yell roused him from his reverie and he looked up to see his friends returning with beer and Arya herself, who grinned at him. He knew upon first glance that her outfit had been loaned to her - likely with the use of some light force - by her sister. He had teased her about having short legs more than once, as she had to speed walk to keep up with him, but her legs seemed to go on forever in this dress. She looked stunning and, he noticed, a little uncomfortable. _Maybe because her friend is staring at her legs._ Gendry willed himself to be cool.

“Where did she come from?” he said, accepting a beer from Hot Pie as Arya flopped down beside him on the couch and cross one leg over the other.

“We found her with a bunch of other hot girls.” Hot Pie replied, “figured we needed to spread them out a bit, for the sake of the party.” Arya gave Hot Pie a scathing look and whacked him on the arm. 

“Seriously though, I’ve never seen you wear a dress. What’s the story there?” Lommy asked. Arya sighed and took a long drink. 

“I was busy earlier tonight, setting the world record for the shortest first date in recorded history.” _Seven hells._ Gendry shook his head.

“How are your friends so bad at this?” He said quietly, and she gave him an exasperated smile.

“So what happened?” demanded Hot Pie. Gendry was sure that no date Arya described could possibly be worse than her previous ones, but he was quickly proven wrong. 

“- and not even five minutes in, he just pulled me in and stuck his tongue in my mouth!” Arya said, almost laughing in disbelief at what she was describing. Gendry felt his jaw tighten. “So I told him to piss off but he did it again.” He knew that Arya loved her friends, but a growing part of him felt that they needed to be sat down and banned from ever interfering with Arya’s love life again. Arya could handle herself - he had seen that first hand - but gods, were Arya's friends _trying_ to test out her self-defence skills? “And I guess I shoved him pretty hard because he ended up in the duck pond. I’m sure he can swim just fine, right? And if he can’t, oh well.” Lommy and Hot Pie howled with laughter, and even Gendry chuckled at that. Knowing that this creep had ended up covered in pond scum made him feel better. The fact that Arya had to deal with him at all, though, infuriated him. 

“I’m sorry that your date sucked, but I would have paid to see you push a guy into a pond,” Lommy said. Arya laughed and leant back on the couch, looking up at the ceiling. 

“Honestly,” she said, “I’m no dating expert, but I’m pretty sure that trying to make out with your date after knowing them for 10 minutes isn’t a normal thing. Right?” The boys nodded. 

“He’s definitely not in familiar with the Lommy Greenhands First Date Itinerary.” Arya nearly choked on her sip of beer and Gendry groaned. 

“The _what_?” Arya asked, wheezing. 

“My foolproof first date plan. It works like a charm, every time.” 

“Twice,” Gendry said, “It’s worked twice.” 

“Yeah, like I said - every time.” Lommy smiled. 

“And what is this foolproof first date plan?” Arya asked excitedly. Here we go. 

“Glad you asked. So first of all - always bring flowers, but not expensive ones. Cheap flowers make it look as if you haven’t got much to give but you’re willing to give it all to her, which is way sexier than having a lot to give. Tell her she looks radiant instead of beautiful, beautiful is overused.” Gendry caught Arya’s eye and she bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. He grinned. “Then, you take her to dinner. Do something sweet like order an extra piece of garlic bread just for her. When you’re done, offer to walk her home. Ideally at this point it’ll be chilly enough that she’ll borrow your jacket. When you reach her place, tell her to keep the jacket - now you’ve got an excuse to see her again. Boom. Second date secured, and she knows you’re a good guy who’s modest enough to buy cheap flowers, but caring enough to get extra garlic bread. Works every time.”

“Twice,” Gendry repeated. Lommy shrugged, unbothered. 

Arya stared at Lommy and nodded, seeming almost impressed by the care he had put into his ridiculous dating plans. “And do you kiss her?” She asked. 

“Yeah, at the end of the night I usually try to throw in a good night kiss, but nothing more than a peck, you know? You gotta leave her wanting more.” Gendry and Hot Pie both scoffed. 

“Speaking of dates,” Lommy went on, “Is your sister single?” 

“And you,” Arya said, ignoring Lommy as she turned to turning to Hot Pie, “do you have any special first date formula that you swear by?” 

Hot Pie raised his eyebrows, “Me? Not really, no. I guess I usually take them to a bakery and they seem to like that. There’s nothing all that intimidating about a boy who loves croissants, right?” Arya laughed at that. “I don’t usually go for the kiss on the first date, though. Feel like I need to work my way up to that. There’s one girl I’ve taken to three different bakeries, though, and I’m not sure if she knows that they’re dates.” Lommy groaned loudly. 

“Not again. I’ll need another drink if we’re going to be talking about this.” He stood up and left to get more beer.

“Hey, wait up,” Hot Pie said, standing up and following him, “I want one too!” 

Gendry watched his friends go, in awe of how ridiculous the two of them could be. He turned to see Arya looking up at him with a curious look on her face. “What?”

“How about you?” He raised his eyebrows questioningly. “What’s your go-to first date gameplan?” She asked.

Gendry furrowed his brow. He hadn’t been on many formal dates, and he had never done anything particularly memorable. “I’ve never really thought about it. Dinner, I guess?” He said lamely.

“Dinner, you guess?” Arya scoffed, “What a romantic. You’re not even going to bring her cheap flowers to show how modest you are?” Gendry laughed.

“I’m more of a drag-my-date-through-stinging-nettles kind of guy,” Gendry said, remembering the date that had left Arya scratched and bruised from head to toe. Arya made a mock swooning motion with her hand against her forehead and Gendry was fully convinced that she was the most adorable person on the planet.

“Irresistible,” she said, laughing, “And don’t forget to ask another girl out while you’re on the date.” 

“And make her pay, even if my dad owns the place.” They laughed and Gendry was suddenly struck by how close Arya’s face was to his. Her expression was soft as she looked up at him through her eyelashes.

“And after this eventful date,” Arya said, her voice quiet enough to make Gendry’s mouth feel suddenly very dry, “do you kiss her?”

He glanced down at his hands and swallowed, his mind frantically trying to find some words. “It depends.” 

“On what?” her words were barely a whisper, warm against his cheek. He looked up, briefly glancing at her lips before meeting her eyes. 

“On if she wants me to kiss her,” he said quietly, and he felt himself shift slightly towards her. She moved to him, lips parted, and her nose grazed against his.

“FUCK!” Hot Pie yelled, and Arya and Gendry jumped.

Hot Pie was standing in the doorway dripping in beer and foam. Lommy was doubled over laughing. “I told you!” He was saying. “You can’t open a beer that you’ve just tried to juggle, you idiot. Gendry, Arry, please tell me you saw that.” 

Arya laughed beside him and Gendry willed himself to look straight ahead. “That was amazing, Hot Pie,” Arya said, sounding a little breathless, “How’d you manage that?” As Lommy explained Hot Pie’s misfortunes, Gendry felt Arya’s eyes on him and he did his best to avoid looking at her. He knew that if he made eye contact he would give himself and every feeling he had for Arya away. Turning slightly from her, he spotted his friend Jeyne standing by a speaker. Her eyes flitted between Arya and Gendry and her mouth hung open in mild shock. He groaned internally, knowing that she would tell Bella, and the two of them would grill him about it later. 

“I need to go clean this up,” Hot Pie was wiping his face with his soaked t-shirt. Lommy cackled and followed Hot Pie to the kitchen and Arya and Gendry were left alone. Gendry’s mind was reeling. Arya Stark had leaned in to kiss him. She had brought her nose to his, she had ... _wanted_ to kiss him? He felt dizzy and terrified and thrilled. He had no idea what to do now. 

Gendry was saved from doing anything by the arrival of Ned Dayne, who cheerfully called Arya’s name and sunk into the couch beside her. He was beaming as he pulled her into a hug and clapped Gendry on the arm. Gendry generally did not consider himself a violent person but there was something about Ned Dayne’s face that was seriously punchable. 

“What’s up?” Ned asked, grinning stupidly. Gendry said nothing and Arya avoided the question by asking about Ned’s tattoo of stars along his wrist. Gendry rolled his eyes as Ned enthusiastically launched into the backstory. 

“Thanks! I got it in King’s Landing last summer. I was in Flea Bottom - the sort of shitty area of the city - but there was this tattoo spot that didn’t look too sketchy, so I went for it. It reminds me of family, you know?” Arya smiled at Ned and Gendry felt his chest tighten. _The sort of shitty area._ He thought about his home. Flea Bottom was the sort of neighbourhood that was the scene of a new stabbing each week, among rundown bookies and parks no mother would let her son walk through alone. It wasn’t a nice place, it wasn’t a place he wanted to return to, and it wasn’t a place that the great and noble Houses of Stark and Dayne would have anything to do with.

“Speaking of,” Ned continued, his bubbly tone giving Gendry a headache now, “I just found out this week that your dad and my uncle know each other! They’re old friends from college! How cool is that?” _Of course._

“No way!” Arya said with a polite smile. 

“It’s cool, hey? And they were tight with Robert Baratheon, too. And Jaime Lannister was a few years below them. Now you and Sansa and I are friends, and Myrcella Baratheon goes here to - I think I saw her tonight actually. It’s like a new generation of the same old friends! We should all get together sometime.” He was beaming as he leaned across her to address Gendry. “How about you, man? Did your parents also go to Oldtown?” 

Gendry raised an eyebrow. “No idea,” he said, and he almost felt himself smile as he said it, “I grew up in Flea Bottom, though - you know, the shitty part of King’s Landing? So I don’t think my folks were pals with Ned Stark and the like.” Ned’s smiled faltered slightly. Whatever satisfaction Gendry had been hoping for didn’t come. He still felt like dirt. 

“Sorry, man, I didn’t mean-,” 

Gendry waved his hand and shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. You’re not wrong, it’s pretty shitty.” Ned’s smile returned and Gendry avoided Arya’s eye. 

“Still,” Ned said, “I was being a dick. Anyway, I should go find my other friends! Nice talking to you guys!” He pulled Arya into another hug before standing up. “Catch you later!”

Gendry and Arya sat in silence for a moment. He didn’t want to talk about it. He had no interest in discussing how unpleasant a childhood in Flea Bottom was, nor did he want to get into anything to do with his parents. He didn’t want to think about Arya Stark, who probably grew up in a manor, feeling sorry for him and his hand-me-downs and foster homes. 

“Hey,” Arya said, “I wish he hadn’t he brought all of that stuff up. That was - ” 

“Yeah” Gendry interrupted, avoiding her gaze. “I’m sure you don’t want to draw attention to the fact that you’re friends with some bastard from Flea Bottom.” 

“What? No. Gendry, that’s not what I meant at all. I don’t care about any of that.” Arya sounded horrified. He looked at her, her eyes wide with confusion, and he felt a dull pain in his chest. 

“It’s fine,” he said, “there’s lords and ladies and then there’s the rest of us.” She stared at him, her expression sharper now.

“None of that is real, though. None of that matters, Gendry. It’s just a bunch of old names it’s-”

“Easy for you to say.” He was being a jerk, he knew, but she didn’t understand. The Starks and Daynes and Baratheons and Lannisters led different lives than orphans who could only just afford to pay their tuition each semester. Girls who came from families like the Starks did not date boys who came from nothing at all. Arya stared at him, waiting for him to explain himself. He didn’t know what else to say. She stood to leave but turned on her heel before walking away.

“Why does it matter all of a sudden?” Again, Arya waited for an answer. Gendry looked up at her and opened his mouth before shaking his head and shrugging. _It’s always mattered. I was just stupid enough to pretend it didn’t._ “Whatever,” Arya said after a moment, and walked away. 

Gendry slumped back onto the couch and finished his beer in one go. 

“You are _such_ a prick!” He looked up and saw Jeyne Heddle with her arms crossed and her eyes ablaze. Jeyne and him had become friends in their freshman year because they both hated just about everyone else in their dorm. Well, that, as well as Jeyne totally using him to get to know his ‘unfairly attractive’ sister. “Are you kidding me, Gendry?” 

“Jeyne -,” Gendry started. He wanted to sulk in solitude. He didn’t have the energy to be lectured. 

“No, shut up,” Jeyne said, sitting down beside him. Here we go. “What is your problem? What was all that about?” Gendry sighed. 

“She’s a Stark, Jeyne. Like, basically royalty.” He sounded pathetic, he knew. 

Jeyne stared at him. “..and?”

He rolled his eyes. “And I’m me.” 

“Okay, so she’s a Stark. You’re you. And you two were a split second away from sucking face a few minutes ago. What’s your issue?” Gendry felt his cheeks redden as he remembered how close he had come to kissing Arya earlier that night. “She likes you, Gendry. She wouldn’t have gotten mad at you for being an idiot if she didn’t.” 

“You can’t know that,” Gendry said, wishing he could brood in peace. 

“I can and I do,” Jeyne said in her most matter-of-fact tone, “Bella told me all about Arya and her date last week. About how she thanked you for being her knight in shining armour and all of that.”

“She never -,” 

“IT WAS IMPLIED, GENDRY,” Jeyne cried, “Gods, you are such a baby sometimes. She just told you that your inferiority complex is baseless, so get the fuck over it and ask that girl on a date.” 

“I don’t have an inferiority complex,” Gendry mumbled. 

“ _She’s basically royalty_ ,” Jeyne mimicked in a high-pitched voice that sounded nothing like Gendry’s. She stood up. “I’m going to go find your sister and tell her what a stupid, smitten loser her brother is, and you’re going to talk to Arya, apologize for being a prick, and finish that kiss.” 

 

**ix. Tobho Mott**

Gendry had tried, really. He had spent the entire week trying to get Arya alone, hoping to apologize and maybe, _maybe_ , ask her if she wanted to grab dinner. It wasn’t until Friday afternoon that he managed to shake Hot Pie and Lommy off and walk Arya out of their lecture alone, finally getting the chance to apologize for being the world’s most pathetic jerk.

“I meant it when I said that none of that stuff matters to me, but you were right - it’s easy for me to say that,” She had said with a small smile after he had said sorry. It had made him feel hopeful, and after grinning at her like an idiot for a few moments, he had been about to finally ask Arya Stark out on a date. Until Ned Dayne, as he so often did, appeared from nowhere at the very worst moment. Typical.

Ned had flagged Arya down to remind her about their date. Their _date_. Gendry stared after Ned with his heart in his stomach. Apparently tonight was Sansa’s turn to set Arya up on a date, and Gendry was now certain that Arya’s sister and her friends were not only trying to ruin Arya’s love life, but his as well. At least he was fairly sure Ned wouldn’t drag Arya through thorn bushes or kiss her without making sure she wanted him to - Gods that image pained Gendry. No, Ned would probably be a perfect gentleman. Sansa had likely found Arya the best match out of all of the girls, and Gendry couldn’t help but resent her for it. 

He slammed his hammer against the hood of the truck. 

“Whoa, we’re trying to take the dent out, not break the thing in half.” Tobho was hanging up his tools, leaving Gendry to close up the shop. He had been at the garage for hours, trying and failing to think of anything besides Arya and Ned. Tobho paused and surveyed Gendry. “Got something on your mind, son?”

Gendry wiped his brow and shook his head. Tobho raised an eyebrow at him before shrugging and heading for the exit. “Son, in my experience, the solution to most girl problems is a bit of honesty and some flowers.” Gendry stared at him.

“Who said anything about a girl?” he asked. Tobho smiled at him kindly. 

“I’m old enough to have seen my fair share of lovesick people, kid. Just make sure she knows how you feel.” And he left. Gendry stared after him, scowled, and put his headphones on. He turned up the loudest, angriest album he had downloaded and wiped his hands on a rag before throwing it over his shoulder. Gendry didn’t want to think about Arya, likely in the midst of her perfect date with Ned Dayne. He his best to focus on the damaged engine cap that needed to be removed. 

Gendry had reached the final song on the album when he was interrupted by a yell. “Hi!” 

He jumped and smacked his head against the hood of the truck. Swearing loudly, he dropped his wrench on the cement floor and clutched the back of his head. Wincing, he looked up. 

Arya was wet. She looked as if she had run here - her cheeks were flushed and her hair was falling in her face. She was wearing a dress again, but had tied a rainsoaked hoodie around her waist. There was mud on her ankles and she had a somewhat frantic look in her eye. She looked like a mess. Gendry had no idea what kind of a date Ned Dayne had taken her on, but he was suddenly concerned that he had overestimated Dayne’s gentlemanliness. 

“Are you okay?” They said in unison. Arya seemed to bite back a smile and Gendry looked her up and down. 

“Did you walk here?” He asked incredulously, “Did Dayne do something?” He had to know, because if Ned Dayne’s had tried anything untoward Gendry would have to track him down and hit him so hard that he’d forget his own fancy last name. 

“What? Oh!” Arya shook her head frantically, “No, no I -” 

“Aren’t you supposed to be on your date with him?” Gendry asked - he was now more confused than concerned by her sudden appearance. Arya nodded and said nothing. 

“Okay,” Gendry said, lost. 

“I thought I might have missed you,” Arya said, sounding oddly nervous, “the sign out front says you’re closed.” 

“Oh,” Gendry said, “yeah, we closed a while ago. I just stick around some nights to help Mott get a headstart on his weekend.” He swallowed, “Why are you here, Arya? Your date -” 

“It’s over,” Arya said, “the date’s over.” Gendry felt a rush of something like hope as he looked at her. 

“Why? Didn’t like him?” He did his best to sound casual. 

“I did like him.” _Oh._

“That’s -,”

“But as a friend. Not the way I like you.” Gendry stared at her, hardly daring to believe his ears.

“Not the way - what do you mean?” He asked, conscious of how strained his voice sounded but not finding it in himself to care, “How do you like me?” 

Arya stepped forward to close the gap between them and Gendry was sure she could hear his heart frantically trying to escape his ribcage. 

“You’re going to make me say it?” Arya asked quietly, and Gendry nodded, still not quite believing this was real. “I like you as a friend, too,” Arya said, “But also as more than a friend.” Her eyes were sparkling. “I like you a lot more than any of the boys I’ve had to go on dates with,” she continued, dropping her eyes from his, “and I like you enough to tell you this while I look like a disaster.” He laughed. Arya looking like a disaster didn’t stop her from being the prettiest girl he knew. 

Gendry reached out and brushed a loose strand of Arya’s hair behind her ear, lightly tracing her cheek. Her breath caught and her eyes fluttered shut. Gendry’s hand followed her jawline and he tilted her chin up. She opened her eyes and they gave him all of the encouragement he needed. 

“Nice, though,” Gendry said, smiling, “a nice disaster.” He kissed her lightly, running his thumb along her jaw as she sighed into him. It was a delicate kiss, a little hesitant, and Gendry pulled away after a few seconds to ensure that he had gauged her reaction correctly. 

He barely had time to look at her before she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him eagerly. Arya pulled Gendry in rather aggressively, parting her lips for him as he cradled the back of her neck. He placed his other hand on the small of her back and hummed involuntarily as she ran her fingers through his hair. Kissing Arya Stark was a million times better than he had imagined, and Gods knew he had imagined it. 

When they finally paused to catch their breath, Gendry looked at Arya and saw a small black smear across her cheek. “Sorry,” he said, running his thumb across the mark and enjoying the shade of pink she turned as he touched her, “got a bit of grease on you.” 

“I also like you as more than a friend, by the way,” he added with a grin. Arya rolled her eyes. 

“Easy to admit after I put myself out there,” she cross her arms and smiled. 

“I kissed you first,” Gendry shrugged, “so I say we’re even.” 

“Plus,” Arya said with a smirk, “I had an advantage.” Gendry raised an eyebrow, confused. “Lommy and Hot Pie aren’t great at staying quiet.” _Oh gods._

“What did they say?” Gendry asked nervously. 

“Oh, everything,” Arya teased, “I’ll tell you over some french fries. My treat.” 

 

**x. Arya**

“I almost asked you out the first time we came here,” Gendry said, dipping his fry in some ketchup. “But then you explained that your sister and your friends are terrible people, so I figured I’d wait.” Arya’s eyes widened. 

“You should have!” she cried. “I could have used you! Well, not _used_ you, but I could have told them I’d met this amazing, handsome guy and we could have pretended to date to get me out of their awful blind dates. Can you believe Sansa set me up with _Ned Dayne_ just to make you jealous? We could have avoided all of this, Gendry!” She looked horrified to have missed this opportunity. 

“I think that would have qualified as using me,” Gendry said with a smile. 

“But I would have fallen for you anyway,” she said, as if this should have been obvious, “We were friends, you’re hot - it would have happened at some point.”

“My feelings be damned,” Gendry laughed. She rolled her eyes at him.

“It would have been like in a movie, okay? You would back out because you hated lying about how you felt just as I realized I’d been falling for you the whole time. Then we’d share a kiss on a rainy night and confess our undying affection for each other while soaking wet.” She stole one of his nuggets and grinned at him.

“We did share a kiss on a rainy night, Arya.”

“Only one of us was wet, though.”

“Yeah, and you still are.” 

“I’m just saying, it’d have been more romantic if we were both wet.”

“Do you want me to go stand out in the rain for five minutes and then come back inside and kiss you?”

“Yeah, actually, if you’re offering.” 

“Eat your fries, Arya.” 

 

 

**i. Arya**

A week later, Gendry was on his couch being straddled by Arya, who was tugging at his shirt. She pulled it over his head and brought her lips back to his, running her hands along his chest. His phone dinged again and they both sighed. 

“Lommy is still wondering where we are,” he said, “I don’t think those two know how to get anything done if you’re not there to boss them around.” Arya gave him a look of mock indignation. 

“Tell them we’ll leave in 20 minutes,” she said, placing her hands on his face and leaning into him. Gendry’s phone interrupted once again. 

“He says,” Gendry said, his eyebrows rising as he read, “To tell Arya to stop throwing her education away for a boy, and that her grade on this project means far more than - wow, he gets really mean here.” Arya groaned as she lifted herself off of Gendry’s lap and sat beside him. He smiled at her disappointed expression. “We can always come back here after our meeting. You busy tonight?” 

“Why?” Arya asked, “Thinking of finally asking me out?” Gendry frowned. 

“Have I not already done that?” He asked, thinking hard. Arya was smiling at him the way she always did when he was being stupid. “Oh gods. Do you want to get dinner tonight? Like, proper dinner - no fries.” 

“I’ve been out on far too many dates recently, Gendry,” she said wearily, “Can we just order Chinese and make out on your couch?” He pulled her back to him and kissed her soundly. He had been right, that first night. She was his dream girl. 

“It’s a date,” he said, ignoring the notification chimes coming from his phone as he kissed her again.


End file.
